Bible Session 6-11 Year Old Class 11-19-12

Lesson: "What Thankfulness Is All About"

Memory Verse: Psalm 9:52 Let us come before His presence with Thanksgiving.

Bible Session from Last Week - 11-12-12

Jonah: A Crisis at Sea

Review last week:  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh to give them an ultimatum.  “Turn to God or be destroyed.”  Jonah disobeyed God and ran in the opposite direction.

Read:  Jonah 1:4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

I read a verse like this and wonder how anyone can say that God does not send difficulty our way in order to cause a change.  I think sometimes we really do need a slap upside the head in order to get our heads screwed on straight and for us to start listening to and obeying God.  What do you guys think?

Read:  Jonah 1:5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god.  And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
                              But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

Hit the panic button!  In a time of crisis, we naturally call for help from whatever god or person we believe can save us.  The sailors also used their boating skills to try to save themselves – get the dead weight off the boat, raise the height of the ship, and hopefully we won’t sink.

There are a couple of ways to look at this.
                1 – They called out to their gods, but did not believe their gods would actually save them. So, they did the work themselves attempting to save their own lives.
                2 – They called out to their gods, but they also did what they could while they waited for help.

There are many perspectives on what we are to do in a crisis, but for me, far too often it looks like this.

Crisis strikes! 
I cry out “God – Help!”
I think to myself, “This is taking too long.”
I try to fix it myself.

Usually this results in a bad ending as I did not wait for God to do his work, and I mucked up the whole thing creating more work for everyone involved.

In stark contrast to the sailors, Jonah goes below deck and falls asleep.  Again, the Bible does not offer us much information as to why he went below deck and fell asleep or how he was able to fall asleep.  Besides the potential sea sickness that could come upon you in a storm such as this, how on earth did he fall asleep in such a moment of crisis?  The entire ship along with all of its cargo and men was about to be buried at sea.

Again there are many guesses as to how and why Jonah fell asleep.  My personal thought is that he was exhausted from running from God.  Have you ever been so tired that you literally collapsed into bed and fell asleep?  You slept through dinner.  You slept through your mom calling you to dinner?  You slept until morning came.  This is how I picture Jonah – weakened emotionally and spiritually, he faces a massive storm that he knows is his fault.  He calls it quits, throws in the towel, goes below deck where he doesn’t have to watch anything happening and collapses into bed – laying down to sleep or die or come what may.  At this point, I doubt he really cared.

Read: Jonah 1:6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep?  Get up and call on your god!  Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

I can picture the captain shouting “Wake up and lend a hand here.  You are the only one who has not cried out to your god.  We don’t want to die you idiot!  Wake up!”

Read: Jonah 1:7 Then the sailors said to each other “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.”  They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.

Casting lots is a lot like drawing straws except it held more power.  It was like saying whoever gets this short straw is responsible for what has happened here.  The short straw ends up in Jonah’s hands.

Read: Jonah 1:8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?  What do you do?  Where do you come from?  What is your country?  From what people are you?”

They riddle him with questions.  Who are you?  What happened?  What’s your story?

Read: Jonah 1:9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Now he obviously told him more than just that, because in the next verse the Bible says he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. 

Read: Jonah 1:10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?”  (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

They were very scared at this point.  Now I find this interesting.  Not one of them was a follower of God, but they were afraid when Jonah said he worshipped the God who made the earth and sea.  Why do you think that was?

Read: Jonah 1:11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher.  So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

In verse 10, they basically said “Why did you do this to us?  What have you brought down upon our heads?”  In verse 11, they are looking for answers.  “What are we to do with you to save our lives?”  How would you like to be Jonah right now?

Read: Jonah 1:12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm.  I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

How many of us would have taken that route?  How many of us might have tried an easier way out or tried to blame someone else or even God?  Were these the words of man committed to God and his plan or were these the words of a man who had given up?

Read: Jonah 1:13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land.  But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.

Again, they decide to rely on themselves and try to row to safety.  No luck!  Instead the storm gets worse!  Do you think God might be trying to make a point here?  Pretty often we end up in a situation where instead of just confessing it is our fault, like Jonah did, we try to shift the focus or blame elsewhere.  Then we try to “row” our way out of the problem when in fact, we should have just done what needed to be done in God’s eyes to correct the situation.

Why didn’t they just throw Jonah overboard?

Read: Jonah 1:14 Then they cried to the Lord, “O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life.  Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased.”

Ah!  There’s the answer.  They were afraid of God.  They knew throwing Jonah overboard was going to kill him.  In the open sea during a storm, his chances of survival were zero.  They also knew that killing was wrong.  They were afraid of the consequences of killing God’s man.

Read: Jonah 1:15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.

One way to tell you’ve made the right decision in the middle of a crisis is peace.  They finally decide to throw him overboard, and instantly the sea is calm.

Read: Jonah 1:16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

Seeing the sea become completely calm after nearly losing their lives changed their perspective on God forever.  I get the feeling that before throwing Jonah into the sea, they were simply afraid of God, because their lives were on the line.  At this point they are running scared of just about anything and everything in a state of panic trying to make sense of what is going on.  Jonah is thrown into the sea and the storm stops.  The Bible doesn’t say they cheered and hooped and hollered.  It says “The men greatly feared the Lord.”  Then they changed their lives.  They made sacrifices to the Lord and made vows to him.

In Jonah’s life and at his best behavior, he many never have reached the men on the boat.  When he is at his weakest moment, that’s when God uses him to change the lives of the sailors. 

If you are in the middle of a storm, struggling with your faith or walking through a difficult situation, try to remember that this particular circumstance, this moment in time may not be all about you.  God might be changing the life of someone near you or maybe an entire boatload of people around you.  Keep your eyes on the Lord and obeying his commands.

Next week: Jonah’s in the water: now what?

Bible Session 12+ Age Group - 11-5-12

Is America Your Nineveh?

I have been reading through the book of Jonah and reading several studies on the book as well.  As I have been reading the book of Jonah over and over again, I am struck with new insights into this book as well as in my own life.

Read:  Jonah 1:1-3

What is God’s command to Jonah?
                Go to Nineveh and preach against it.

Why did God command this?
                Nineveh was very far from God and had become very wicked.  God was going to destroy Nineveh if they did not turn to Him.

A little history:

·         Jonah lived in Gath-hepher.

·         Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, and is a very powerful and well-fortified city.

·         It is also a city plagued with a focus on idol-worship.

·         In fact, the Ninevites worshipped the fish goddess Nanshe and Dagon the half man/half fish god.

·         A prophet’s job is to deliver a message from God.

·         Jonah’s job is to tell Nineveh they are going to be destroyed.

·         This is the only time in the Bible when a prophet is told to go to a foreign nation to bring God’s message to a people.  This is the only time Israel is directed to pursue the Gentiles.   Prophets typically brought messages to those they lived in or around.

So God has commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh.  What was Jonah’s response?
                He ran away!  Not only did he run away from God, but he physically ran in the opposite direction!  (I showed a map.  Look it up.  It's pretty funny how far in the opposite direction he runs.)  He gets on a boat and heads toward Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Note: Jonah is the only prophet in the Old Testament to refuse to follow God’s command.  He is the only one who disobeys a direct instruction from God. 

Can you run away from God?  Can you hide where He cannot find you?  NO!

Even though Jonah tried to escape God and God’s directive, he was never out of God’s sight.

Bible Drill: Psalm 139:7-8
                Where can I go from your Spirit?
                Where can I flee from your presence?
                If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
                If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

I read in a Bible study that God had given Jonah the assignment of the ten tribes of northern Israel, but the focus of this book of the Bible is the prophecy he was to deliver to Nineveh which he does not deliver and downright disobeys God.  This book gives us a much bigger picture of how God works with imperfect people.  He gave Jonah a big job to do, but Jonah was the man in the field, the man assigned to the mission, the man God would go with wherever he needed to go. 

Jonah is God’s prophet but he runs.  Why?  Was he feeling insecurity?  Was he afraid that God would ultimately save the Ninevites and thereby discredit the prophecy he was about to deliver regarding the destruction of Nineveh?  Did he simply harbor hatred for such a despicable group of people that he did not want to deliver a message that could save them?  Was he sincerely afraid of these Ninevites and fear took hold of him? 

We do not know for sure, but what we do know is that for a moment, he took his eyes off of God and he ran!

Is there a command that has God given to you?
Are you obeying that command or are you running from it?
Is America your Ninevah?  Has God commanded you to stand up for Christ in the face of adversity?
Are you being like Jonah?  Are you running from God’s command for you in your life?

Bible Session 10-15-12

FAITH – HOPE - LOVE

Bible Drill: 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Introduction/Review:

• What was the topic of our first part of this three part series? Faith
• What was the topic from last week?  Hope
• Who can guess what our topic is tonight based on 1 Corinthians 13:13? Love

Love Defined by the Dictionary:  

• A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person
• A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child or friend

Love Exemplified:

• God set the example of true love.
• Bible Drill: John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
• Bible Drill: John 15:13 – Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Love Commanded:

• Bible Drill: Leviticus 19:18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord.
• Bible Drill: Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
• In Mark 12:28-31, a teacher of the law questions Jesus.  He asks “Which commandment is the greatest?  Which is the most important?”  Jesus answers “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength.”  And second to that is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
• Why would these 2 commands be most important?
• Think about it.  If you follow these 2 commands, everything else should fall into place.  If you love God, you are going to whatever you can to make him happy.  You’re going to try to please Him.  You aren’t going steal, lie, worship other gods, etc.  Likewise, if you love your neighbor, you’re not going to try to take his stuff, steal his wife, or kill him.   So I contend that these 2 commands are greater than all other commands on how to live like Christ, because by following these 2 rules, you will follow the other rules more consistently.

Love Taught:
John the disciple teaches why we should love and how we should love in I John 4:7-21.  (We read this passage to the group.)

Love Defined by God: I Corinthians 12:31b-13:13(We read this passage to the group.)

This is how we should live by faith, with hope and in love.

Ceiling Replacement - Help Needed!

Help is needed to replace the ceiling in the gym at Bethany Bible Church in Kenmore during the week of October 29th. This is the gym we rent each Monday for Skate & Rec Night. Please email me at brett@madskates.com if you even think you might possibly be able to help at all, and I'll put you in contact with the man in charge. THANK YOU!

Dinner Needs - Updated

October and December are filled, but we still need some help in November.

November 12 - Filled! PTL!
November 19 - Filled!  PTL!

NOTE: December 17th is our Christmas Party.  December 24th and 31st we will be closed.

Praise

Thanks to everyone who prayed for my back.  It is getting much better, and I am almost back to where I was before this most recent injury. 

I also wanted to say, God is so good.  Through this suffering, God has brought a new light into our midst as we are adding a new volunteer starting October 22nd.  Thanks be to God for bringing Isaac to us.

Praise the LORD!

Bible Session - 10-8-12

FAITH – HOPE - LOVE

Bible Drill: 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Message: The first part of our I Corinthians 13:13 study began last week with faith.  This week we are looking at Hope.

So what is hope?  As usual, I‘m going to Dictionary.com for my textbook answer.

1.       Noun - Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best

2.       Verb – Hope is to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence

What is something you are looking forward to?  What is something you have hoped for?

I’m focusing on these two definitions of hope (feeling like events will turn out for the best, looking forward to something believing it will happen) because it is so easy to look at the circumstances currently surrounding us in our lives and give up hope.  To quit trying.  To walk away from something important to us, because maybe right now it just seems too hard. To give up hope.

What is something you have “given up hope” on?

The Bible says, that we have been justified through faith and now have peace with God through Jesus Christ.  We not only rejoice in this, but we also rejoice in suffering, because suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

Bible Drill: Romans 5:5  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 

None of us likes to suffer, to be injured, hurt, sad, and so on, but in our times of suffering, we can become stronger, and we can grow in our faith and in our hope.  Then right there in the middle of the pain, God meets us in that place of hope and fills our hearts with his love.

Bible Drill: Isaiah 49:23c  Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

What is the key here?  Hope in the Lord!  If you are hoping that someone you know breaks their leg, so you can get their spot on the soccer team, that is not “Hoping in the Lord.”  That is obviously not something God would approve of, so you may likely be disappointed.  But if your hope is that a friend will be healed, or that he or she will decide to accept Jesus as his or her savior, then that is something God would approve of and you can hope in him!  Especially if he has told you it is going to happen!   It makes the waiting seem less long, when you know that God is not going to disappoint.

Bible Drill: Psalm 62:5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.

If you are feeling stressed out about something, you can find rest in God.  Your HOPE comes from him.  Trust in his faithfulness and his timing.  Put your faith in Jesus Christ and put your hope in him as well. 

MEMORY VERSE
Psalm 62:5 – Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

Bonus Verse
I Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Closure - October 29th

It is official.  We will be closed on October 29th.  The ceiling will be getting replaced that week, and all gym activities have been cancelled.  We will still be meeting on October 15th and finishing up our 3 part series "Faith, Hope, Love."  Please come on the 22nd to close October with pizza and a video.

Bible Session 10-1-12

FAITH – HOPE - LOVE

6-18 Year Old Lesson 10-01-2012

Introduction:  Over the next three weeks, we will be meeting together as one larger group.  We will be studying Faith, Hope and Love, three key elements found in I Corinthians 13:13.

Bible Drill: 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Message: This weekend I went to a funeral for a very old friend of mine.  During the funeral the Pastor spoke about faith.  He said our friend Betty did not get to go to heaven when she died because she was a good person.  She did not get to go to heaven because she read her Bible every morning or because she went to church every Sunday. Although those are all wonderful things, she went to heaven when she died, because she believed – because she had FAITH.  She had faith the Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he paid the ultimate price for her sins, so she could be with God forever.

So what is faith?  Dictionary.com gives us several answers, and we’re going to look at three of those answers.

1.       Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing.

a.        Everyone grab a partner and go stand on these ramps.

b.       Blindfold one of partner so they cannot see.

c.        Now keep the blindfold on, and the other person is going to lead you safely around this space.

d.       Did that require Faith?

2.       Faith is belief that is not based on proof.

a.        I believe – or have FAITH – that I will wake up and get out of bed in the morning.  I have no proof that will happen until I actually wake up in the morning.  I have faith without proof.

3.       Faith is belief in God.

a.        Believing that God is who he says he is and that Jesus Christ died to save you forever.

There are many Bible verses that talk about faith.  So many that we could never get through them in an entire Skate & Rec Night.  These verses tell us that

1.       Faith can move mountains.  Matt 17:20 and 21:21

a.        I have never moved a mountain, but when I was on Mt. St. Helens my faith in God caused me to pray and ask that He make the wind stop.  It was a glorious day, but the wind had picked up. It was getting pretty nasty, and I prayed for the wind to stop.  Almost instantly God stopped the wind.  It isn’t that you are going to be moving mountains, but that your faith in God and in his power will be moving mountains.

2.       Faith can heal. Mark 5:34

a.        There are several stories in the Bible of someone’s faith allowing them to be healed.

b.       Not everyone who has faith will be healed.  Sometimes that just isn’t God’s plan.  Paul lived with a “thorn in the flesh” which was never taken away.

3.       Faith can save. Luke 7:50

a.        Faith in God, in Jesus Christ, will save you from hell and give you a life with God forever.

4.       Faith can justify (to make right). Romans 3:28 and 5:1

a.        We are justified or made right with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.

Those of you who grew up in the church have probably seen this before, but stay with me on this.  There are two sides, in our case, two ramps.  One is where mankind is standing.  The other is where God is standing.  Between the two is a gap too large to jump across.  The great gap between you and God is because you cannot do everything right in God’s eyes.  You will never be able to keep all the commandments and laws that God wrote.  BUT, God created a way to bridge that gap.  He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross.   Jesus took our sins – the bad things we do – and he paid the penalty for those sins.  When you get in trouble at home, what happens?  There is a punishment right?  The punishment for not following God’s rules and doing what he says is right – the punishment is death and separation from God forever.  BUT Jesus Christ took your punishment!  If you have FAITH that Christ died for you and you accept him as your savior, then you can walk across this bridge and be with God.  Just like my friend who died and went to heaven, when you die you too will go to heaven because you have FAITH.  And while you are alive here on earth, you will get to live with that bridge in place between you and God, you get to live with God in your life.  He forgives you for the wrong things you have done and makes them right.

If you have already made a decision to accept Jesus as your Savior, please walk across the bridge of faith in Christ. (Pray a prayer of praise.)

(We never got to the point of addressing if they had not made this decision, because everyone there claimed salvation.)